Tag Archives: bia

UPDATE: About 50 people attended the meeting on Tuesday night to hear about the BIA proposal, ask questions and share concerns. The steering committee plans to keep educating the local business community on what the proposal is all about, and there’s a survey on the City’s web site for local business owners to complete.

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Local businesses are being encouraged to attend an information meeting on Tuesday, July 18 to hear about plans to create a Business Improvement Area (BIA) for Stittsville. The meeting happens at 7pm at the Goulbourn Recreation Complex, Hall A.

A group of around half a dozen local business owners have formed a steering committee to drum up interest and support in the plan. (The group includes a variety of owners and management from Walkerworks Framing, Jo-Jo’s Pizza, Huntington Properties, Stittsville IDA, Covered Bridge Brewing, and Warmstone Dentistry.)

From the group’s Facebook page: “Stittsville is such a dynamic community with incredible opportunity. The growth we’ve experienced and will continue to experience at an increasingly rapid pace needs direction. The Stittsville BIA proposal is here to exhibit the power of BIAs and how we can help unlock untapped potential for all Stittsville business owners. We need to support each other and our businesses through an organized effort. Shop the Stittsville is movement. Come enjoy some pizza courtesy of Jo-Jo’s and voice your opinion – it matters!”

On Monday, November 21st, I was pleased to attend the Stittsville Village Association event, “Reinventing Stittsville Main Street”. The discussion focused on potential business growth in the heart of our community and raised some insightful discussion amongst business owners, landowners and residents in the area. Continue reading →

Jonathan Seguin sent along some photos and warning about wild parsnip along the trails south of Abbott Street and east of Shea. Colloquially known as the “Abbott Street Dog Park”, it’s a very popular area for dogwalkers, even though it’s on private property.

The yellow weed is all over the place in our area, especially near ditches, pathways and fields. The plant’s sap can cause skin and eye irritation, and make the skin prone to burning and blistering when exposed to the sun. (It’s not as big a risk for dogs, although sap could be transferred from their fur to human skin.)

Seguin knows all about the dangers of wild parsnip: he works for one of the companies the City has contracted to do the spraying. “I’ve had the rash multiple times so I’m just looking out for the Stittsville locals so they can avoid it. It is not fun and gets quite bad unless you know how to handle it,” he says.

The City of Ottawa is spending close to $200,000 to combat the weed this year, including mowing, herbicides and a public awareness campaign. If you see wild parsnip on public property, you can report it to the City by calling 3-1-1.

The Abbott Street land is private property, so the city won’t touch it. (And technically, dog walkers are trespassing.) Wear shoes, long pants and long sleeves, stay out of the weeds, and if you do come in contact, wash the contaminated area as soon as possible. See a doctor if you notice any skin irritation. More about wild parsnip here…

“They’ve told me that they can finally enjoy their backyards, eat outside and encounter no mosquitoes rising out of the grass when they’re cutting it,” she wrote in a recent email to residents.

Every household had a levy of about $20 added to their tax bill this year to pay to spray larvicide in wetland areas to prevent mosquito larvae from hatching.

I live in the north east part of Stittsville and I’ve noticed fewer mosquitos buzzing around my porch and backyard this year.

Meanwhile, the City of Ottawa, university of Ottawa and G.D.G Canada are collaborating on an ecological impact study to better understand the effects of the larvicide treatment on insects closely related to mosquitos. You can read about that research here…

Thanks to Kim Bonin for snapping this pic of Jessica Phelan while she passed through Stittsville along the Trans Canada Trail on Saturday. She’s on a 9,000km trek across Canada called Jess Bikes Canada, raising money for Gillian’s Place, a shelter for abused women. You can read more about her trip here.

KANATA CENTRAL BIA IN THE WORKS

Businesses in Kanata Centrum and the surrounding area are looking at forming a Business Improvement Area (BIA). The group would be known as the Kanata Central BIA and include shops and businesses in Kanata Centrum, Signature Centre and Kanata Commons, along with Canadian Tire and the Marriott hotel. They have a Facebook page set up here and an email address, kanatacentralbia@gmail.com.

West end business leaders say that Kanata’s poor transit service is hindering their ability to attract talented employees, and they’re asking the mayor to extend light rail to Kanata before 2031.

Earlier this month the Kanata North BIA sent a letter to Mayor Jim Watson, co-signed by other business associations, west end politicians, and a bevy of business executives including Sir Terence Matthews. (There are nearly four pages of signatures attached to the end of the letter, which you can read below.) Continue reading →

A couple weeks ago at their weekly Friday night music event, Gaia Java co-owner Paul Jay announced that he and Paul Melsness will not be renewing the lease on their coffee shop when it expires at the end of 2015. A deal with a prospective buyer fell through.

The Carp Road Corridor business association held their annual general meeting on November 12.

Members attending the meeting discussed local business priorities including how power outages and voltage drops result in manpower, production and equipment wear costs. The business association will compile a record for future discussion with Hydro One.

There was also discussion on polling all members on their interest in pursuing extension of municipal water in to the business area.

Members present voted to approve the overall work plan for the business association and a budget of $115,000.

The Carp Road Corridor Business Association represents businesses along Carp Road from Rothbourne Road to March Road. The area is designated in Ottawa’s Official Plan due to the high concentration of employment.

Formed in 2011, the Business Association holds an Annual General Meeting this year planned for November 12, 7:30 am at Irish Hills Golf and Country Club.

Items to be reported on include BIA activities advocating for municipal water in the Corridor, investigating hydro reliability in the area and meeting with OC Transpo to discuss transit services in the area. A work plan and budget for 2016 will be presented for the approval of members attending the meeting.

The 18 business improvement areas within Ottawa’s city limits currently span from Orleans in the east to Carp Village in the west, but Stittsville is nowhere to be found on that list.

John vanDyk would like that to change.

The owner of the Covered Bridge Brewing Company says a BIA would give small businesses in the west-end community a boost by helping spread the word that there’s more to the area than just big-box stores.“I think it’s a great way to sort of raise awareness in the community for local businesses, but also for local businesses to connect,” he says from his brewery on Iber Road.Mr. vanDyk, a former Health Canada employee who took a leap of faith into the beer business in late 2013, says his products are now served in about a dozen pubs around the city and at his own retail outlet.He sold about 50,000 litres of suds in his first year of operation and forged successful partnerships with a number of other locally owned enterprises. For example, Covered Bridge produces a coffee-flavoured beer using beans from the Gaia Java Coffee Company, located a short drive away on Main Street.“We find that those connections have really worked well for us because, you know, they might have a slightly different clientele than us, but it helps to expose us to their clientele and vice-versa,” Mr. vanDyk says. It’s a great way of just supporting each other.”